Opinion

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., lapsed into Clintonese when asked to rationalize why he's allowed to pull down his annual $174,000 congressional salary while he collects his $47,000 state pension. "The benefits I'm receiving from the state were earned over more than two decades of public service, and they're two separate entities, two separate governments, and they're being paid according to law," he told the National Journal last week.

Such double-dipping by Sen. Blumenthal, one third of Congress and the countless past and present "public servants" in Connecticut and the nation is lawful only because politicians long ago made it so. They cut themselves in on the sweet pensions they gave government-employee unions as a quid pro quo for the unions' financial and manpower support at election time. As long as politicians and public-sector employees follow Sen. Blumenthal's example and don't return to work for the same government system, they can collect taxpayer-funded pensions and remain in government service; with rare exceptions, double-dipping is forbidden in the private sector.

" Hey Al, I hope this means John Rowland , who collects pension of over $55,000 a year with lifetime healthcare for him and his wife, should not be getting this pension because he's only 56 and working full time at WTIc. "

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